Vacancy on Industrial Parks - a case study in Almere

The Dutch industrial parks face a lot of structural vacancy and are in need for solutions to solve this problem. This paper aims to offer a contribution to the discussion through a single case study of industrial park De Vaart in Almere, the Netherlands. First a literature exploration has been executed in order to give answers to more general questions about the character of industrial parks and vacancy. Theories concerning location factors and strategies have also been explored. Based on this theoretical part a case study of industrial park De Vaart is presented. The study is based on expert-interviews with established companies on De Vaart, potential settlers, real estate agents, the municipality of Almere and regional institutions. The empirical study of De Vaart aims to give answers to the questions what factors explain vacancy on De Vaart and which strategies can be applied to combat vacancy.